Geoff Gray realizes there’s a golden opportunity in front of him to claim a starting spot on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive line.

He’s just not spending too much time thinking about it.

“I’m not worried about that,” Gray said Wednesday after his first rookie camp practice. “I’m just trying to play my best. I just want to have a good training camp and feel really good about what I put on film.”

The 24-year-old hometown boy has been pencilled in as the starting right guard for the Bombers this season after the team lost all-star Sukh Chungh to free agency in the off-season.

Gray was a first-round draft pick out of the University of Manitoba in 2017 and spent two years pursuing work in the NFL before signing with the Bombers late last season. He spent time around the team and got into the last game of the season for few plays. Though he’s participating in rookie camp, Gray believes he has a bit of a head start.

“That little bit at the end of the year definitely helped me because for the most part the playbook is the same so I feel like I’m coming in with a lot of knowledge,” Gray said.

“It has been longer than what I’m used to since I last played real football. I got in for a couple of plays at the end of last year, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had pads on and really been going. It’s not like I’m nervous or apprehensive about it but it just feels good to get back into it.”

Gray could get a challenge for a starting job from another first-round draft pick.

Drew Desjarlais, picked fourth overall out of the University of Windsor just a couple of weeks ago in the CFL draft, signed a contract with the Bombers Wednesday and was on the field later in the day.

He’s a top prospect at guard and some observers believe he’s ready to start right away.

“Training camp is full of opportunities and every day you’re trying to win that spot,” Desjarlais said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less than a great competition.

“That’s kind of what drives the game of football, winning that spot, not wanting to lose, winning that game, winning that play.”

Even before the draft, Desjarlais believed Winnipeg would be a good destination for him, as the Bombers lost both Chungh and all-star centre Matthias Goossen (retirement).

He said he plans to bring the same kind of game he displayed at Windsor to the Bombers offensive line.

“Just the run-game nastiness,” he said. “That’s been my reputation through the whole process and I’m sticking with that. I like that.”

WAIT TILL NOVEMBER

It was pouring rain, windy and a 11 C when the Bombers took the field for the first time Wednesday, prompting some newcomers to wonder if it’s always that cold.

That drew a laugh from Winnipegger Brady Oliveira, a running back who was drafted in the second round this year out of the University of North Dakota.

“When we were walking over here, they were saying ‘Oh, it’s cold out here, how are you wearing short sleeves?’ Oliveira said with a laugh.

“I said ‘This is nice weather right now. It’s not cold out and there’s no snow on the ground. This is perfect weather for football.’”

In other words, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet fellas.

DREAM COME TRUE

Oliveira was grinning from ear to ear after Wednesday’s practice session, his first with his hometown team.

“You have no idea how much fun I had out there today,” the 21-year-old former Oak Park star said. “It’s a dream come true for me to be back in my home town, wearing this blue and gold.”

While he grew up in Winnipeg, Oliveira has been playing four-down football for the last four years and Wednesday brought the first chance for him to get reacquainted with the three-down game.

“Being in the U.S., I kind of forgot how much fun the Canadian game is, with all the motion and stuff,” Oliveira said. “I really did enjoy it.

“It took me a little bit of time to know that I’m never staying still in the backfield, I’m always motioning. It is a lot of fun and it definitely causes a lot of confusion for the defence.”

AAF EXPERIENCE A BIG HELP

It has been quite the whirlwind for quarterback Kevin Anderson these past few months.

He started at the Alliance of American Football training camp in January, won a job and served as the backup with the Orlando Apollos, saw his team go 7-1 to contend for a championship, suffered like everyone else when the league abruptly folded and then started all over again at a Blue Bombers free agent camp last month.

The 24-year-old from Fordham University impressed Bombers scouts enough to earn an invitation to the team’s mini-camp the next day in Bradenton, Fla., then did enough there to earn a contract.

Now he’s in Winnipeg, taking part in rookie camp and hoping to land a job in the CFL.

“I showcased enough for them to at least give me a shot to come and earn something here,” Anderson said.

“I’m used to going through training camp. I was just in training camp three months ago. It’s not like I’m just going from college, seeing guys move a college level. At least I got to see some pro speed and now you add another defender and it is slowed down for me.”

Anderson didn’t play much in the AAF. He only went in when his team was way ahead and mostly handed the ball off. He ran a wildcat package a couple of times and threw just one pass that fell incomplete.

But he’s got a strong arm and the Bombers have had their eye on him for a while. He could contend for the third-string quarterback role this season along with veteran Bryan Bennett and fellow rookie Sean McGuire.

He’s hopeful that his AAF experience will give him an edge.

“We competed super hard,” the Boca Raton, Fla., native said. “More than half my AAF team is already in the NFL. All those guys were very vocal in helping me get better and the coaching staff really believed in my talent to get better. They really saw an opportunity for me and I took it and ran with it.”

He believes he can do it again, and hopes to have a chance to learn as much as possible from Bombers starting quarterback Matt Nichols.

“He seems like a great guy,” Anderson said. “I just met him today. He’s very down to Earth and very approachable. What he’s been able to do as far as efficiency and not turning the ball over is something I strive for.”